Transcription
Today we're going to talk about the 13 foods you should never buy organic. They're just not worth it. You're going to spend between 50 and 80% more on organic foods when you really don't need to. Then I'm going to get into some really key foods that you should always get organic simply because they have the most concentrated pesticides.
Let's just start with the definition. Organic. What does that actually mean? It means foods that don't have synthetic chemical input. When you're talking about animal foods, it means the feed that they feed the animals don't have synthetic chemicals given to them. And with animals, part of the definition is you can't use antibiotics. And one quick thing about chemicals. We're talking about pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and those chemicals build up in the body and they can create problems.
Let me also cover three other definitions. Food made with organic ingredients. What does that mean? It means that at least 70% of that product has to be organic. Then you have just the word organic and that means at least 95% of those ingredients need to be organic. And then finally we have 100% organic which means 100% of those ingredients have to be organic. So it is a little confusing.
I also want to mention uh something called hydroponic where you're growing vegetables or salad in a soilless liquid with some minerals in it. That's how they can grow certain vegetables and salads through a hydroponic unit. And if I'm not mistaken, they also have the certification of organic, which I don't really like because you're growing vegetables in water with some minerals in it and it's not complete. It's not like soil where you have the microbes. So, when you see the word hydroponic and it's grown organically, that doesn't really mean anything to me.
And then the last point, I want to talk about this right here. Sometimes you have organic junk food. These are organic Pop-Tarts. These are conventional Pop-Tarts. Okay? They have the same amount of sugar and starch, but they're organic. So, when you actually consume the organic version, it's not going to make you any healthier. Okay? They both have the same amount of sugar, which is a massive amount. So when you start getting into organic junk food, it really becomes a situation where it's just a marketing thing. And so there's a perception of, wow, organic, it must be better when in fact it has so much massive sugar. Uh you're not going to actually improve your health by eating organic junk food.
So let's first go into the list of the 13 foods that I would not get organic.
Number one, sea salt. I know it's wild. Sea salt is a mineral, okay? It's not harvested with pesticides, insecticides, because pests don't eat sea salt. Okay? So, when you see that, that's just totally a marketing issue. I would recommend getting certain types of sea salt from good sources. Pink Himalayan sea salt, Celtic sea salt, Redmond sea salt, Baja Gold sea salt, but I would not bother getting organic sea salt. Okay.
Number two, wild caught salmon. Yes, they actually have organic wild caught salmon. First of all, how you going to control what that wild fish is eating in the ocean. They're not in a farmed area. They're wild. So again, this is another marketing hype thing to make you think it's somewhat healthier and you might be spending more on it, but anything wild caught any fish, don't worry about having the word organic.
Number three, avocados. Avocados are sprayed if it's conventional, but the shell is very, very hard. There's a very strong barrier. Those pesticides are not going to get through that shell. So, here you are spending a lot more money between 50 and 80% more when you really don't need to. So, there's going to be very minimal uh pesticides and avocados. I wouldn't worry about it. Okay.
Number four, baking soda. This is sodium bicarbonate. It's an alkaline mineral and a lot of times you'll see organic uh baking soda which is just another marketing ploy. This baking soda is not going to be exposed to pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fungicide. It's coming from the earth. So, you don't need to get it organic. Now, sometimes people have a confusion of baking soda with baking powder, which sometimes could have aluminum. Um, well, we're not talking about baking powder. We're talking about baking soda. and you want to get food grade and you'll be fine. Okay, you don't need the word organic. I'm not kidding.
Number five, sometimes you'll see organic mineral water. I mean, does anyone really believe that that actually is a thing? You can have organic water. Water is not treated with pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides to somehow protect it. Now, of course, tap water has a lot of chemicals in it, but organic mineral water is just purely a marketing ploy. So just get some good mineral water from a good source and don't worry about having it say organic.
Now number six, walnuts have a very hard shell. There is no way that any pesticide, herbicide, fungicide is going to penetrate that shell. So it's going to be okay to buy uh conventional walnuts. It's going to be incredibly cheap and it's really not necessary to get the organic. And that also goes for peacons. They have hard shells. Brazil nuts have hard shells. And by the way, Brazil nuts are probably the best source of selenium. Macadamia nuts have hard shells. So I wouldn't worry about getting organic nuts that have hard shells.
Come to the next one. Coconuts. A super hard shell. There's no way a pesticide is going to penetrate that. Don't worry about getting organic coconuts.
All right. 11. Cabbage. Believe it or not, cabbage is not a vegetable that is heavily sprayed, but it might be sprayed. All you have to do is take the outer part of that cabbage away and then you're not going to have any pesticides. So, that's one thing that I do. The pesticides aren't going to like penetrate to the core. You don't have to worry about that. The same thing with banana. Now, I don't consume bananas. Some people do, but the banana has a peel that is going to prevent those pesticides from penetrating it.
And then 13, we get game meat. This is another uh similar thing to wild caught. If you're eating elk, uh, wild boar or venison, those animals are out in the wild, right? They're not controlled in a small area where you're feeding them. So, there's no way you can control the food. And so, when someone says it's organic, it doesn't mean anything.
Now, let's talk about the foods that you should always get organic.
Let's start with number one, peanuts. Peanuts have a very thin shell that is not grown on a tree. It is in the soil and they put heavy amounts of sprays and fungicides to counteract the mold that grows on these peanuts. And because that peanut shell is so thin, it's going to be like a sponge for pesticides. So, this is why if you're going to eat peanuts, I would highly recommend that you get organic peanuts.
Next one, growing strawberries. If you're doing strawberries, I would not do conventional. There's no shell. The chemicals go right in. And so again, it's like a little sponge.
Coffee is one of the products that is heavily sprayed with a lot of chemicals. And coffee is grown around the world and sometimes you don't even know where it comes from. It's grown in the tropics and so there's more chance for mold and fungus. So they're going to put a lot of stuff on it. If you're going to consume coffee, make sure it's organic.
Now let's just go right down to tea. Tea is also heavily sprayed, but because tea is like a leaf, you're going to get even more chemicals than coffee. And so, I would highly recommend if you're going to do tea, make sure that's also organic.
Now, let's get to chocolate. Here's another one where they spray a lot of chemicals. Chocolate is harvested in tropical areas where there's higher chance of uh mold and fungus, and so they do use chemicals. So, if you're going to do chocolate, do organic.
Cotton is another massive commercial crop where they heavily spray this cotton. And the thing is that you have cotton tampons which actually go inside your body that you can be exposed to these chemicals that then those residues can be absorbed by your body. Then you also have cotton clothing and sheets. So that's just another thing to put on your radar. There could be some residues, especially the tampons and also uh cotton products for small babies. I would make sure it's organic.
Spinach is another heavily sprayed crop. Okay, so this is the one I would do organically. I personally don't do a lot of spinach because it's also high in oxalates which can trigger kidney stones. I would do more arugula or just romaine lettuce.
Apples are heavily sprayed. If you're going to do apples, I would highly recommend do organic. I think if you actually peeled the apples, you probably could take off uh a good amount of those pesticides. But apparently the peel is definitely different than a shell from a nut. So you're not going to get the same protection.
Grapes are another one. They're heavily sprayed. I would do organic if you're going to do grapes.
Cherries are one that I would highly recommend doing organic as well because they heavily spray cherries.
And then wheat, oats, lentils, and pulses need to be organic. And I'm going to tell you why. Because even if you see non-GMO wheat, that means it's not genetically modified. But it doesn't mean they're not spraying an herbicide called glyphosate, which is Roundup Ready on it, because that's what they do as a drying agent. So, in other words, some of these uh chemicals are not used to kill pests and weeds. They're used to dry out this product, especially wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, and even lentils and pulses. So if you were going to eat wheat, oats, lentil, and pulses, make sure that's organic, not just non-GMO. And so when they say organic, that means it's not genetically modified. But when they say it's not genetically modified, that doesn't mean that they don't spray it with some herbicides. So there's a big difference between the two.
Now that you know more about organic, the next most important thing to know is what about the nutrients of the food? What to eat to get the most nutrients? And for that information, you need to watch this video right here. Right there. Go ahead and click it right now. Check it out.